Cameron Clark 07-01-09

Boy, 16, found dead on Mount McGinnis

The Associated Press, Published: July 2nd, 2009

JUNEAU-- A teenager reported missing on Mount McGinnis has been found dead.

Megan Peters, spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers, says the body of the 16-year-old
boy was discovered late Wednesday but retrieval efforts were put off until Thursday
because of poor weather on the 4,228-foot mountain.

Alaska State Troopers a got a call Wednesday afternoon that the boy had been separated
from the two friends with whom he was hiking. Trooper Jeff Landvatter said the hikers
were on top of the mountain when one set his backpack down and it slipped off a
ledge. The boy went after it and never came back.

Teen missing on mountain found dead after a tumble

The Associated Press, Published: July 2nd, 2009

JUNEAU -- A teenager reported missing on Mount McGinnis was found dead on the back
side of the mountain after an apparent fall, authorities said Thursday.

The body of 16-year-old Cameron Clark was discovered late Wednesday, but retrieval
efforts were put off until Thursday because of poor weather on the 4,228-foot mountain,
Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said. The body was recovered before
9 a.m.

Clark, who attended Thunder Mountain High School in Juneau, had been hiking with
two friends Wednesday. The group reached the top of the mountain and was having
lunch when Clark set down his backpack and it slipped off a ledge, Trooper Jeff
Landvatter said.

Clark went after it and never returned. The other teenagers waited awhile, then
called out but heard no response. After a half-hour, one of them used a cell phone
to get help.

Peters said Clark's body was found at the 3,500-foot level, suggesting a fall of
hundreds of feet.

"He took a horrendous tumble," she said.

His body will be shipped to Anchorage for an autopsy, the date of which has not
been set, Peters said.